To celebrate the annual Day of the Dead, Corona Canada has rolled out a series of limited edition tall boy cans featuring artwork inspired by traditional Mexican sugar skull designs.
Corona’s agency of record, Zulu Alpha Kilo, came up with both the concept and the design for the cans. The promotion is an extension of the “Live Mas Fina” or “live the good life” campaign that the agency launched in March.
Each design in the series represents a way of living with themes such as love, adventure and thoughtfulness. Cans include lines from the “Live Mas Fina” manifesto such as “Will you have seen enough sunrises?” and “Will you have loved enough?”
Despite the melancholy name, Day of the Dead is actually a salute to life, said Shane Ogilvie, executive creative director at Zulu. The artwork is meant to reflect that message, as well as continue the theme of the campaign.
“We brought a positive undertone. It’s about living a life worth celebrating, to live the fullest life possible so you can look back and feel good about it. And obviously we wanted to make the Mexican connection as well.”
To help promote the cans, Zulu has created a campaign that includes social media, out-of-home and print ads running in Voir, Now, The Grid, and Georgia Straight, which include free standing inserts.
The campaign also features a themed makeover on Corona’s Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube pages as well as a social media contest giving fans an opportunity to win limited-edition silkscreen prints of the original sugar skull artwork. The prints will be numbered and reserved for winners only, but mass-produced tear-away posters will be available in select locations around the country, allowing consumers to help themselves to a copy.
A short documentary is also in the works and will feature the making of the posters with a focus on the art of traditional silk screening.
The cans are on store shelves now across Canada, and will be available for one month.
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday which focuses on celebrating the lives of friends and family members who have died, and traditions include honoring the deceased with sugar skulls, flowers and food. It takes place annually on Nov. 1 and 2.
